Guess more extensive monitoring just got bumped to the top :)
My point is that it is stupidly important to have good monitoring in place and I am surprised that one of the best known startups had a gaping hole in theirs.
(again, NOT saying this applies to foursquare, I have no idea)
My point is, and perhaps the down vote indicates I didn't make it well, that monitoring and alerts are extremely important for any startup. They admit as much in the article, had they known sooner there wouldn't have been any down time. It isn't an excuse to say it got lost in the crush (not that they are trying to use it as an excuse, they're being very upfront and admitting fault).
We have neither the load or the team they do and we have comprehensive monitoring and alerts across our infrastructure as part of the SOE that each server gets. Perhaps we prioritized monitoring higher than them as we are a small team?
And I bet they have prioritized monitoring now. Now where did I put the key to that barn door?
It's in the saddlebags.
Maybe there were other things the engineers were working on that brought definite (as in 100%) benefit. Maybe there's a good product/consulting opportunity here. Everybody needs monitoring, but it takes time and resources.
I agree, that they are focusing on it now, because it happened.